Plane Lands on Long Island Beach, Then Flips

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Investigators at Robert Moses State Park in Babylon, N.Y., examining a Cessna plane that landed on the beach on Monday.CreditJohnny Milano for The New York Times

By Arielle Dollinger

Jan. 29, 2018

BABYLON, N.Y. — A 26-year-old instructor and two teenagers were flying in a small plane when it lost power on Monday and made an emergency landing on an oceanfront beach, flipping over as its nose hit the sand, the police said. None of the three aboard were injured, the New York State Park Police said.

The Park Police got a call about a plane on the beach at Robert Moses State Park at about 9:30 a.m., Maj. Anthony Astacio said. The plane had flown out of Republic Airport in Farmingdale, which is about 16 miles away, officials said.

The teenagers, a 16-year-old boy from Wantagh, N.Y., and a 16-year-old girl from East Rockaway, and the pilot were not identified by the police. The teenagers had been taking a lesson, according to Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board.

The pilot reported that the plane, a Cessna 172, lost power, Major Astacio said, and flipped after landing when its nose hit the sand.

Doreen Haviland, 49, of Sayville, N.Y., said she was walking along the beach when the Cessna landed.

“Imagine if this was summertime,” said Ms. Haviland, who took selfies next to the belly-up plane. “This is where we lay!”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: Crash Landing on Long Island Beach. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe